Guilin 5 Jiangtou Village (7/29/2012)

Sunday, July 29, 2012 continued
After leaving Elephant Trunk Hill, we had a 45-minute drive to the Jiangtou Village in Jiuwu Town. The China Highlights tour company must have an agreement with the village to bring visitors, since it is not "open for tourists." Lele explained they leave a donation at the temple.
So our first stop was the clan temple:

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the temple was turned into a school with classrooms on both sides.
Zhou Dunyi (1017–1073): 

Zhou is the clan ancestor of this village and most residents are surnamed Zhou.
A small picture of Mao in the temple:

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Temple courtyard, where anything religious was destroyed:

Bixi, the tortoise, usually carries a stele on his back:

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Leftover Cultural Revolution slogans in the temple.

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The village is noted for its grey bricks:

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The walkways of the village are paved with pebbles and small stones:

A series of lane photos:

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Alley cat:

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Brick carrier:

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Several of the houses appeared abandoned, but this one is lived in:

Most of the villagers were out in the fields working, so it was very quiet.
Next a series of doors:

Some houses had a mirror above the door to scare away ghosts. Lele said the ghost would come to the door, see something very ugly (itself in the mirror) and run away.
The opening between the doors are for the animals:

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Chickens in the doorway:

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Chickens in the house!

Family name over the door:

Door into a family compound:

Lele points out a house number:

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Old doors:

New door:

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Former landlord house gate:

Another mirror:

More animal doors:

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Series of windows:

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A bridge to the rice fields:

Lele is getting snail eggs for us to see:

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River snail eggs:

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The bridge is made from large stone planks:

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There are holes carved in the stone to allow them to be tied together in case of floods:

A round well with spring water:

Bamboo dipper:

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An old cart:

 Stone walls:

Creeper vine:

Wall made from remnants:

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Garden wall:

Fancy wall:

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Ventilated wall:

New wall:

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Spiderweb:

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Peek inside a house:

Lele and a friend who invited us into her home, with concrete floors:

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One large room with posters on the walls:

A TV, fan, cabinet, and four child-size wooden chairs:

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Behind this room was a kitchen:

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Kitchen cabinet:

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The son's house (he is married with a child):

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He has a bigger TV:

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I think that is a movie star picture on the wall.
A child's counting poster:

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Kent, the 82-year old woman, and Tamiko:

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An outhouse:

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Plants on the roof:

Ginger and taro plants:

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Clerodendrum speciosissimum buds:

A new house:

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A reconstructed house:

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Snake beans:

A square well:

Flower garden:

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Roosting chicken:

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Road crossing the stream:

Impatiens balsamina/Garden Balsam/Touch Me Not:

This plant has seed pods that pop open when you squeeze them, and the pod curls back on itself.
Rice field of young plants:

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Plants closer to harvesting:

A local bus:

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A heavy load:

We drove back to Guilin for lunch at the McFound Restaurant, owned by an American and his Chinese wife.  We had pork in sweet soy sauce:

That you wrap in tofu sheets:

Fried pumpkin:

And pumpkin greens:

We visited the Ludi Yan/Reed Flute Cave:

Typical limestone cave with formations given imaginative names and lighted up in bright colors.
They also has an exhibit with alligator snapping turtles, a green sea turtle, and a couple large tortoises:

The other tortoise had Buddhas carved into its shell and they both appeared venerated.
This formation looks like a human foot:

The dark orange is the heel and the bottom of the foot extends down the wall with the big toe over Kent's head.
Alas, it was time to head to the airport, where Lele came in and checked us onto the flight. Such great service! Back in Shanghai by 10:00 pm.
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